Celeste's Dungeons and Dragons Writing Blog

Hi, I'm Celeste and I am currently a player in my first ever Dungeons and Dragons campaign. I have spent a lot of my time writing lots of things for my character, and I needed a place to post them where someone could enjoy them! Enjoy!

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Hello!

Hi there, my name is Celeste and I have decided that I need a place to post all of the stuff I write about my Dungeons and Dragons campaign. This is my first campaign with my first genuine character, so this means a lot more to me than even I think. I'll be posting my character's backstory, short stories of the time between her backstory and her time with the current adventures she's in, and her narratives with each session.

Some more about my character:

Her name is Rivari Ceoli, she is a level 5 Tiefling bard class. She has purple skin, dark purple hair, golden eyes and black horns. She is anywhere from 18-21 in game since she does not know her real age. She is 100% in a slowburn romance with our party's Red Dragonborn Paladin named Dorn and no one can change my mind.

Also, if you have any questions at all about my character, the other characters in my campaign, or the homebrew world building my fabulous DM (also my boyfriend) has created, then please ask me! I will get back to you and answer as quickly as possible to the best of my ability!

Hopefully you enjoy my content!

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Session Log Seven - The City of Crossholm, the Letter, and the Beginning of an End (For the Blood Cult, anyways)

We collected what we thought would be of use to us from what Illifarin offered, before leaving his dungeon and sneaking our way past the Mage’s undead once we were in the view of the city’s great walls. We were at a disadvantage now; the Captain we spoke to earlier replicated the sending stone, so there was a three way tie between our stones and their sole one. If they had been listening, we could have been done for. But after we ‘snuck’ past the Zombies and Ghouls, Dorn took out the startlingly accurate depiction of Illifarin’s decapitated head, which was truly made of stone, and showed it to the guard, who allowed us into the city. Once we entered, most of us decided that we needed some more supplies. We all went into a General Goods store, and when the clerk saw the others, he hushed them and said that he went by a different name now. Then it hit me. This was the former Count of Cladehin, who had settled for a merchant’s life in a town three days' travel from where he used to rule. I wanted to tell him that I played beautifully at his funeral so badly, along with the rest of my disapproving thoughts about the decisions he made in faking his death, but I figured that would be a bit rude, seeing as I only know what happened because the members told me when we received the letter from him.

In his store, I settled for some new strings for my lute, seeing as I needed none for my violin since Orel so kindly delivered my strings back to me during our uncomfortable reunion, and a cloak. I knew I would probably need it for the travels ahead, and sometimes it would just be better for me to conceal my features. Though I would have to make the holes for my horns in the hood at some point later on. After I was finished making my purchases, I decided to go to the Tavern to see what I was working with in this particular town. It was around Midday when we arrived, so it wouldn’t be too busy at this point, but I knew that with how large the main room seemed to be, it would be a full and bustling place come sundown. A large audience for a large, successful, trading town. Though it seemed a bit empty now, I decided to perform a bit anyways while I waited for the rest of the party to meet here. I needed to get my mind off of what was to come when I got a chance to go with Dorn and Orel to the college. After a moment or two, Lia entered the Tavern. I bought myself water and her a glass of wine. I didn’t mind buying her a drink, since her disrespect towards me grew weaker. If she respected me, I would respect her. An eye for an eye. Once our drinks were given to us, I continued my work for a little while longer. And I am not quite sure if my eyes were deceiving me, but I almost saw a smile on Lia’s young, stoic, cold features. I’m doing exactly what I wanted with my music. Making people happy.

When the other members slowly conformed in the Tavern, I stopped my performance and asked for Dorn and Orel. I needed to feed the brewing curiosity within me. It made my body ache just thinking of what was to come, though I wasn’t quite sure what it was. There could be just about anything waiting for me there. I knew I would need help even entering that building. I had the violin case in my hand, my lute hanging from my back, and a small flame of hope burning in my heart as we approached the tall, beautifully carved building in what seemed to be the Elven District of the city. My heart was pounding out of my chest as I entered the building with my two comrades behind me. My hands were nearly trembling as I took a few steps, the doors closing behind us. I could see an older woman who seemed to be the Head Mistress of the College, and she looked up to greet us. Until she laid her gaze on me. She claimed that she knew me, though I had never seen this woman before. And then she asked me if my father was a Tiefling. My voice broke as I answered “No”. Torin was human. Her face went pale as she went to find something, and then approached me with an envelope with my name written on it, sealed with a purple wax. My hands and body shook as I gently peeled off the seal and took out the paper to read what was written for me. 

“Rivari, if you’re reading this, then I presume you’re here to get education beyond my basic training and lectures? Or perhaps some other reason. Well… I wanted to remind you that you can do it, you have it in you. You are a kind hearted, beautiful, talented young lass, and you should own it, you should know it. You have strong intuition, musically and socially, and I believe that you are sharp enough to make it through even the worst of situations, though it will never come to that. I know I never really said it… but I’ve always considered you my one and only daughter, in spite of your ancestry. When I found you in Gold Port, you were but a wee lass, no more than ten winters old, and I’ve prided myself in raising you into a strong young woman, but as much as I do pride myself on raising you so, it wasn’t all me… that was your inherent and internal goodness that let you be raised that way, not just my parenting. No matter why you’re here, what you’re doing, know that I believe in you, and support you. I love you, my daughter.

Love Da, AE 1053

P.S. Speaking of parenting, I’ve found your hereditary father, and trust me when I say that you want nothing to do with him, neither me nor your father know the whereabouts of your mother if he’s telling the truth. All I will tell you, if this shall satiate your seemingly endless curiosity, is that your mother is human, your father is a Tiefling, like you. Only seek your father out if you want to find your genetic mother. Be careful around him, I’ve taken great measures to make sure he’ll never hurt you around me, but on your own? You might not be as safe. Remember, you owe no allegiance to those who sired you, you’re my daughter, not his. Not hers, unless you choose to be, that’s your choice.”

    Tears streamed down my face as I held the worn paper close to my heart. I almost fell to my knees as I read the words written in ink with my father’s quill. I couldn’t stop the weak sobs that escaped my throat; I tried to hide my face from Dorn, Orel, and the Headmistress, until the older woman wrapped her arms around me and held me, obviously feeling the pain that was breaking my heart. After she wrapped herself around me, I felt Dorn’s arms as well, along with a gentle pat on my back from Orel’s hand. I muttered that he went missing after retiring in Gold Port and adopting me as his own to the woman. Very few people knew where Torin decided to settle, and there weren’t any chances of leads here, according to her. She also warned me that taking his name would be a very daunting task, since he was such a famous bard. I could only tell her one thing, still holding the letter in my hand and in the arms of my friend. Ceoli was the only name I had. Saying those words broke my heart more than it was already broken. All I could hear in my mind was Torin’s voice, memories finding their way into my mind, forcing me to remember the night of his arrest. I leaned on whoever was holding me, simply continuing to sob. The words of the letter were rushing around my mind faster than I could comprehend them, overwhelming me with a whirlwind of emotions. I could only feel the pain of what was left behind. 

    When I finally calmed myself enough to wipe my tears away, I could still feel Dorn’s embrace as the Headmistress said she could see the potential in me, and that she was sure I would wear the Ceoli name with pride and honor. I thanked her for her time, and as I still held the letter close to my heart, I left the Bard’s college with both nothing and everything. I had no lead to find him, but I had something of him I didn’t have before. This was the only thing I had seen of Torin in nearly two years. It brought me closure, but also more open ends. Everything and nothing. Nothing and everything. As I walked back with the two men at my side, I stayed silent. Tears were still streaming down my face, my breath still hitching in my throat, as we rejoined the others. No one bothered to ask if I was okay as we went to the Town’s Inn, bought a room for all of us to confide in for a little while, as Orel began a ritual for a silence spell. We didn’t know if anyone could have been listening to us from our window or door, so it was probably the smartest idea for us to perform this spell so we could work in privacy. 

    I stayed towards the walls and in the shadows, still emotionally unstable. I urged that we do this as peacefully as we possibly could when I did speak, and eventually, we decided to take out the Fighters’ Guild from this ladder of power first. A majority of us stayed outside of the building where the Fighter’s Guild resided, Orel, Lia, and Nalla being the only ones to go inside after Orel disguised himself as a prominent figure that all Fighters’ Guild leaders respected, hoping to manage this in that way. The only thing the rest of us could do was wait until they succeeded or something went wrong. I took the time to replace the strings of my lute while I waited, still overwhelmed in my own thoughts. It felt like an eternity before the three of them exited the building, with some more coin to use in this endeavor, along with a map to find the Thieves’ Guild hideout beneath the City within the Sewers. We decided to head that way, entering the sewers that reeked with an overwhelmingly horrible stench, following the path on the map given to us. But as we followed this path, the ground began to turn white and gray with what looked like spider webs. It became difficult to walk the deeper we went into the webbed area. The fact that I disliked spiders was not exactly helpful with my emotional distress. We entered a chamber straight from my nightmares, with what seemed to be nearly a dozen humanoid bodies hanging from the ceiling, wrapped up in layers and layers of web. This wasn’t good, was it..?

This session was a lot for me, and writing this one out was beyond entertaining for me. My character is going through such an emotional crisis, and I hope that for those that read this, this emotional rollercoaster will be just as entertaining for you as it is for me. Thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful day/evening!

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Session Log Six - A New Magic, the End of the Trials, and the True Culprit Behind the Scenes

We entered the room, careful to avoid the trap on the smooth stone floor, and saw two elemental figures of water and fire. They claimed that this trial would be a trial by combat, and all of us, including them, began to start attacking each other. I was simply hoping that I would be able to do something right this fight, trying to inspire people. And eventually, I started to do a little bit of damage to the elementals. The Fire elemental seemed to give us the most trouble, catching Lia and Dorn on fire quite a few times. But when Dorn started to take some more damage, Orel began to panic. He was nearly screaming bloody murder, telling us to get away from him. When I took a moment to think, I saw something new within Dorn; a new, uncontrollable power. Sorcerer’s magic. I knew what Orel meant, and we all had every right to be afraid of what would happen if Dorn took any more damage. But I wasn’t afraid of him, I was afraid for him. I could see the pure fear and confusion in his eyes as he continued to fight along with the rest of us, though we were simply at a distance. I was trying my best to give Dorn my assurance, urging him that he was going to be okay and to ignore Orel’s words, but he was still afraid. It hurt me seeing him that way.

When both of the elementals were dead and we got the key from them, Dorn walked over to me and wrapped me up in a tight embrace. He was nearly trembling, and I just held him there for a moment. `I knew that fear when I started quarrelling with magic myself; fae magic was a daunting concept to me, though I had a good teacher. All I could do for Dorn was whisper assurances to him to try and calm him down. I wanted to do so much more for him, but I couldn’t. It broke my heart. Once he was able to leave my arms, Orel was trying to explain what had happened to the Dragonborn, only confusing and overwhelming him more. I snapped at Orel, telling him to just stop it. Dorn was only going to become more afraid if he continued to explain the new magic within him the way he was doing so before. But after I did this, Dorn left the room, and the dungeon, so that he could take a moment to himself. Orel and the others told me to follow him. I refused at first, not wanting to intrude him if he needed a moment alone. But after thinking about it, they made me realize that I was the only one he seemed to truly trust, and deep down I wanted to make sure he was okay. I decided to follow him.

I didn’t bother hiding from him, but I didn’t make much noise. In my mind, I was telling myself that I should simply stay away from him, as much as it pained me to keep my distance. He probably needed to be alone more than anything else. I could feel his pain as he glanced back at me. He saw me, I know he did. I was in plain sight, though I was a good 30 feet away. He eventually stopped, climbing up into a tree. He removed his holy symbol of Beata from his neck, placing it in front of him as though he was going to pray. But what hurt me more than anything else, was the tears I saw pooling up and streaming down his cheeks. There was an internal battle burning and festering inside of him, and it was taking its toll. All I could do was sit on the forest floor near the tree, and start to pluck out a melody for him; a hymn for Beata I have been thinking about, as a thank you to him and his Goddess for saving me in battle.

After a little while, Dorn hopped down from the tree he had settled in, telling me that we should go back to the group before they worry. I immediately apologized for following him, telling him I only did it so that I could make sure he was alright. I would have explained more, but he cut me off with his own apology for snapping at me the way he did back in Cladehin. As we walked back, I broke the silence by playing the tune I had come up with before, just louder, humming and occasionally singing a few words, trying to come up with some good lyrics for the song of praise. I really hope he’ll like it when it’s done; I mention his glory and good deeds, after all. But all I can do is hope. Hope that he’ll like it, and hope that he will continue to trust me.

When we returned, all seemed well, and we took the time to rest once again. Some wounds needed to be healed and some of us just needed to take a break from our emotional highs, including myself. I continued to practice what I was planning on writing down when I got the chance, quietly singing so I wouldn’t disturb anyone else who was resting. But eventually, my complete exhaustion caught up to me, and I fell into a deep sleep. I only woke up when I was shaken awake by a much more happy looking, excited Dorn. I was delirious at first, but I completely woke up when I realized that he and Orel had taken the time to practice and learn about his newfound power. He even showed me a couple of his spells. I was flabbergasted. For a moment, all I could do was stand there. I was both proud of him and just in shock. He got a grasp of it so quickly, thanks to Orel. Perhaps he isn’t going to be that bad of an addition after all. I only responded to Dorn after he asked me what he thought, with pure joy and pride gleaming in his eyes like they did when he took his oath to Beata. I smiled, and told him that he was doing wonderfully. Such a precious thing.

As we continued through the puzzles laid out for us, we grew to realize that they were much more simple than they seemed. We solved them quickly, one by one. I even came up with a clever solution for one of the puzzles; that gave me a hint of my pride back. Things were starting to lighten up again, and that was all that we needed. The party had life and laughter again. And once we were all through with the puzzles, we had 8 keys before us. The eight keys to unlock the door, more likely than not leading to the source of the undead, the puzzles, and the gollums. Though Orel promised whoever we were going up against peace, I was still a bit nervous as we placed the keys in their respective locks. This was a very powerful spell caster, if they were able to make all of this and summon an army of the undead for their own defense. It was a scary thought, and I wanted to avoid violence to the best of my ability. I could only hope that the others felt the same. We weren’t ready for a fight against something as powerful as this.

When we entered, we saw a cloaked figure; not like the one that attacked us, much different as a matter of fact. We assured the caster that we came in peace, and we were simply trying to figure out what was going on. He turned around to face us; he was a tall Elven man, who was named Illifarin. We began to talk with him, and he began to explain everything that was happening within the walls of the city and why he did what he did.

    According to the mage, he raised the undead to combat his apprentice that left him. A Blood Mage, by the name of Daren. The Blood mage wanted to find an artifact. Illifarin claimed he had no clue about why Daren was looking for the artifact, and I could tell that so far, he was telling the truth. He explained to us that Daren was born a half-elven man with the cursed gift of Blood magic; he was always ridiculed for it, even after he was taken in by the former archmage of Crossholm. He let his anger brew inside of him for so long, no matter how hard anyone tried to help him, it was always growing until it burst. He lost the battle that I won so long ago.. I could understand why he lost, I really can.. But with what Illifarin told us next made Daren lose what little respect and sympathy I had for him. He lost a hard battle with himself, and he handled his loss in the worst way he possibly could.

Daren has started a Blood Cult within Crossholm, corrupting almost every large establishment or group within the city with promises of power, and mind controlling their underlings. The Fighter’s Guild, the Mages’ Guild, the Thieves’ Guild, the High Guard of the city’s Countess Taka of Crossholm, and the Church of Alhiem within the city were all corrupted by Daren. And every corrupted party seemed to play a part in the enforcement of Daren’s rule. With what Illifarin was describing, the fighters were the enforcers, roughing up those who were starting to figure out the Cult’s actions, and providing the Cult with fighters that are mutated with blood magic. The thieves gathered intelligence and ‘took care of’ the ones who knew too much. The mages were experimenting on dogs and assisting Daren in the search for the magical artifact.. They are the ones who sent that Beast to kill us in the woods that night. The Guards make sure no one can enter the castle where Daren stayed with the mind controlled Countess. And finally, the Church was taking and encouraging blood offerings to fuel the cult’s power and conspiracy. It was something we would have to take our time with; take Daren’s control of the city bit by bit, until he and his power collapse and release the city from his tyranny.

I only grew more terrified as Illifarin described to us what we must do to handle the Blood Cult and their control of the city. Everything about this seemed so daunting to me, but I suppose all of us would be working together. And once Illifarin was done speaking, I decided to speak to him myself, with the accompaniment of Dorn and Orel. The two of them were the only two people I felt like I could trust the most going into this city. And I needed to ask them for help. When the four of us were alone, I asked Illifarin about the College in the city. He said he wasn’t completely sure about their position in all of this, and they most likely were not corrupted by the Blood Cult. A wave of relief swept over me when I heard this news. That meant we had a place to go to if things went completely and utterly wrong. And that also meant that I could draw information about Torin as well.. Which is what I talked to Dorn and Orel about once Illifarin left us alone in privacy. I told them my thoughts, though they weren’t the most specific. I only told them that I needed help going into this city, and that I could potentially find a lead to finding something I lost. They both accepted without any hesitation. Now I had allies. Friends.

Some of the others wanted to talk to Illifarin alone before we would leave to Crossholm to begin our true mission there. But before we left, he wanted to give us some extra loot to help us in the city, and a way to frame his death to the Captain we now knew was corrupted by Daren and his cult. I was waiting to leave, simply thankful that I could get the help I needed in the city, both handling my personal ordeals, and infiltrating the city. I knew I could trust Dorn and Orel with this matter. Dorn has saved my life, and I have shown Orel parts of me that few have seen.. Physically, anyway. He’s kept his mouth shut about the whole matter between us, and he’s earned bits and pieces of my trust over time. I knew I could trust him more than some of the others, simply because I didn’t know them quite well enough yet. We all may work well together, but we still need to take the time to learn about each other and our motives. Hopefully I will learn more about everyone, and even more about what was to come in that Bard’s College.

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Session Log Five - Our Own Ambush, Invisibility, and the Beginning of the Trials

We decided to go into the cavern and take on the Bone Golem with a decent strategy. We allowed Lia to go in with Pimbul as a bat in her pocket so that she could sneak up on the creature and get a powerful blow before we could go into the fight and overwhelm it with our numbers and magic power. Everyone else was doing so well, hitting every attack with no effort, but I struggled. No matter what instrument I used, no matter how hard I focused, I never seemed to hit the damn thing. Perhaps I was just disoriented because I knew what awaited in the city? I could only assume that was the case. Because there was a mix of emotions beginning to brew inside of my heart as we fought. There was happiness, fear, anger, and something I wasn’t quite familiar with and couldn’t quite describe.. It was difficult focusing on the task at hand. 

    Soon enough, the others laid the final blow, and to make myself useful, I decided to scout ahead using one of the spells Da taught me for when I was in a bit of trouble and needed to disappear into safety. I knew if I used my time wisely, I could give them information, which I did my best to do so. Once the spell was cast, the party wished me off so that I could go ahead and find out what exactly we were going up against.

As I entered, I immediately noticed more of the Bone Golems we had fought at the mouth of the cave just moments before now. Though I was invisible to the naked eye, I still snuck past them into a hallway with three arches. Above each, there was a glowing symbol. There were some I could not figure out, but from the ones I saw and recognized, these were the symbols of the schools of magic. In another one of the corridors, there were more of these arches and a door that seemed to have 8 keyholes on it, bearing the same 8 symbols I saw. This all seemed to be one giant puzzle to me. I snuck past the Bone Golems once again just before the spell ended, meeting back up with them to explain exactly what I saw.

    The magic users seemed to have a basic understanding of what was in that dungeon of sorts. Though my explanation wasn’t perfect, since I couldn’t recognize all of the symbols I saw. We were originally going to go in and destroy one Bone Golem at a time, but Orel noticed something; there was a glowing orb at a decent height above us. He tried to speak to it, only to receive no response. But we knew someone was listening and watching us. It probably saw me cast my spell and enter the halls further inside the cavern. Now I was more on edge than I was before. After a little while of them trying to communicate, Orel stepped forward to face the next Bone Golem that stood in our way, now beginning to talk to it. He told the creature that we were going to play along with its master’s game, solve its master’s puzzles, and handle this in a peaceful manner. I almost didn’t believe it when the Golem lowered its defenses, along with all of the other ones that I saw within the other corridors. How Orel had managed to do that, I’ve no idea, but it would be a lot easier to get through this without the Golems ready to attack and kill us all.

When we went into one of the corridors, and entered one of the rooms. I stayed a bit towards the back of the group. I was still slightly upset at how I had fought earlier, and I was afraid that Dorn was angry with me because of what happened in the Tavern a few days ago.. Was he angry with me? We haven’t talked at all since- What is going on with me? I need to pull it together. Especially since someone seemed to have stepped onto a trap and summoned a hostile Bone Golem into the room. Well, this was just lovely, wasn’t it? Once again, the fight went horribly wrong for me, and I was almost petrified when Orel was trapped in a cage of bone and knocked unconscious. If he were hit any harder, I was afraid he would have died on the spot. We couldn’t risk taking any more damage after that. Once the final blow against the Golem was struck, he was seemingly evaporated by Esteem’s powerful magic. Though it was impressive, we had to help Orel and take the time to rest and regain our strength. I couldn’t possibly sleep, as much as I tried. There were too many thoughts and memories of Da running through my mind. All I could do was strum the strings of my lute quietly, waiting for the others to get the sleep they needed.

When we all were awake, we realized we still had to solve this puzzle that the mage called a trial. It took us a lot longer than we expected, but it was surprisingly simple in the end; it was Conjuration. We simply had to will the key we needed for the door to exist. I almost laughed when the key appeared after Orel said something completely ridiculous out of frustration, but my emotions and thoughts were still on high. They would be for a long time after the realization I had, I knew that much. But when we entered the next trial, we were quick to realize it was the trial of Necromancy. The group dug up an undead body who seemed to be passive, but he held a key in his hand, and none of us were quite sure what to do. Especially me. So I cast out a new spell I had caught onto during our traveling, conjuring a magical hand that tried to take the key from the undead’s hand. But I knew immediately that I had made the wrong choice, since he seemed to be threatening us. We had no other choice but to slaughter him in cold blood. I felt horrible; he cried out in pain, told us that he meant no harm, before sinking back into another unwilling death. I left the room while the others decided to bury him and make him a proper grave. I had to take a moment to myself so that I could sob silently in peace. The only thing that could see me was a passive Golem that really only did anything when one of us spoke to ask it a question. But I quickly regained my composure, making it look like I hadn’t cried at all, before we approached the next trial; Evocation.

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Session Log Four - A Knighting, a Duel, and the Travels Ahead

The morning after that ale was a delirious one for me when I first entered the mess hall. A few members of our party were already there enjoying some breakfast foods provided by the Countess. It smelled delicious, and I was about to sit down and eat until Dorn approached me and asked me to talk to him alone. Curious about what was going on, I accepted. We went off to the side so that we could remain in privacy. He told me that Countess Gedala had offered to knight him, though he would have to swear fealty to her and come back to Cladehin if she ever had a need for his service. I was very surprised that he even made the approach to talk to me alone. We may have helped each other in previous quarrels, but I was surprised he trusted me so quickly. Though I was beginning to trust him more than I trusted much of anyone else; I could tell he was a genuinely good person. When he told me this news and asked me for my advice, I couldn’t help but smile up at him. I told him that he was more than deserving of this knightly title, and that if he were to be called back to Cladehin, I would follow him. If he watches my back, I’ll always be there to watch his, I said. He seemed a bit more confident about asking the party about the knighting. I was just glad I could help him.

After talking with the party about it, we decided that the ceremony should take place as soon as possible so that we could leave the city quickly. And once again, Dorn surprised me. Gedala asked him if he wanted to choose a witness for the ceremony, and he chose me without hesitation and a bright smile. I was beyond flattered, to be quite honest. I know how important becoming a knight can be, I’ve heard many stories and met many knights from different towns over my travels. It is an honorable title, and he wanted me to be there with him when he earned it. Perhaps I’m overthinking it slightly. I am making quite a big deal out of nothing, aren’t I? Oh well, needless to say, I was proud to be a chosen witness for an important event like this one. And afterwards, I offered to take the party to the tavern in order to celebrate. Everyone seemed quite eager, perhaps because I was buying. I had the coin to spare, and I had to express my gratitude for my acceptance among them somehow. And so we went to the Tavern to propose a toast to the new knight, Sir Dorn, Knight of Cladehin, and Vengeance Paladin of Beata.

When we arrived at the Tavern, everyone ordered their beverage of choice, mine being my usual sweet Mead. Pimbul seemed to enjoy the same drink as me, and I really should have noticed the normal portion he received before he got himself drunk. Though it was quite amusing at first, he seemed especially keen in the fighting ring and a certain man lingering about it. He was very obviously full of himself, seemingly ready to prove his worth in the ring in a heartbeat. I didn’t notice what was happening, simply enjoying my drink that I bought, before I heard the painfully average looking human man cry out at Pimbul. I glanced over, and he seemed to be climbing him. At first, I couldn’t help but snicker. But then the man grabbed Pimbul by the hair and attempted to throw him across the room. By now, I saw red. Though I may not know the young halfling well, I knew I needed to stand up for him. So I challenged him to a fight in the ring.

I did my best to fool him at first, testing his boundaries to see just how egotistical he was; but I hesitated for a moment too long and he quickly gained the advantage of the fight. I tried my hardest, but hand to hand isn’t exactly my expertise. He quickly won, and I was knocked out just as easily as I was in the forest. When I woke again, I saw that Dorn was the one that brought me back into consciousness. Again. My face flushed with embarrassment. I lost that fight miserably, only fueling the human man’s ego further, and Dorn was the one to help me. That only worsened my debt. But did the man who beat me have no respect? He even thought to challenge anyone who dared to fight, not even acknowledging my efforts to fight for my young friend. And much to my dismay, after Dorn and Nalla discussed for a moment who should avenge Pimbul and I, the Dragonborn stepped forward, eager to fight the man who had knocked me unconscious. From where I was against the wall, I could only watch and hope for my companion’s victory.

He fought well, spitting out threats and snarky remarks as he punched, kicked, sparred, and pinned the human man down. Though things began to get a little too close to call for my liking, and I did my best to help my friend in any way I possibly could without using magic; inspiration. Though that did something, it simply wasn’t enough, as Dorn was knocked unconcious. It was time for me to get even once more, dragging him away from the ring, touching his arm and singing my song of healing quietly, bringing him back into consciousness. Now the Dragonborn seemed upset. I asked him if he was alright, before muttering under my breath that he didn’t have to fight in that ring for me or my honor. He snapped at me, saying “Who says I did it for you?” This caught me off guard. It almost hurt my feelings, so I dismissed myself to get him some water to drink.

While I did so, the man only seemed to drag more of us into trouble. I’m not exactly sure what went down, but I heard yet another cry of outrage and then a racist slur towards Nalla, and then an accusation of.. Witchcraft.. Hearing that word only further soured my mood. It brought back so many memories that I did not want to relive. I was too tuned out in my own mental prison to realize that Nalla and the human proposed a duel to take place tomorrow evening at dusk. I was trying to calm myself down from the memories flooding into my mind, finishing up my mead before going back to the Keep, since we would apparently be here for another day or two. When I found a chance, I took the opportunity to talk to Nalla personally. I told him that I understood the situation and accusations he had received, and that I would be there to support him if he should wish it. After that, I needed to rest, though I knew I would have trouble sleeping.

For the next day, I wouldn’t do much of anything; all I could really do was wait for this dueling incident to pass on. I stayed in the keep until the night that the duel was supposed to take place, wanting to keep my promise to Nalla that if he should need me, I would be there. Luckily, with Dorn as Nalla’s second, there was a peace negotiated between the two parties, and we would be able to leave at first light tomorrow. This time, I would let someone else take the horse’s reins and I would be riding in the carriage. I got the feeling that I would not want to ride a horse for a very long time after the incident in the forest. Hopefully they would understand..

    The first night staying in the forest seemed peaceful once we made some more progress travelling along the road. Things seemed peaceful now, and I could only pray to whoever would listen that we would remain safe. Perhaps Beata, since Dorn is a devout follower? She should probably be the focus of my prayers after all, I suppose. Maybe a hymn or little tune may bless our long journeys ahead of us. I’ll have to think of some lyrics soon, perhaps when I’m doing my watch for the next few nights. I know I will not be able to sleep as well, so I may as well make some use of myself. I watched for an hour this night, before preparing to leave for the main road to Crossholm, where we were summoned by the former Count. As we travelled closer to the famous trading city, we ran into a few unusual things that sent shivers down my spine. We saw and helped a human man who claimed to have been attacked by humans, sending him to Cladehin where he could go to find food and rest. We also saw the man who delivered the Count’s letter, dead. He seemed to have the life quite literally sucked out of him, by some magical means. I was startled by it, to say the least..

That night, I would be the last to take watch, after Lia and Dyn. I slept as best as I could, until I heard Dyn shriek in fear and pain, waking me up from my slumber. I quickly unsheathed my weapon, leaving my tent to see a dog- no, a beast, entering Orel’s tent that was next to the right of mine. I saw Dyn unconscious next to the campfire, and everyone beginning to stir awake from their own tents. I heard some shuffling next to me, and I looked to see what looked like a cloaked figure, but only for a split second before hiding in the shadows. I figured it would be a safe idea to hide in the shadows as well, going to the side of my tent. Many immediately moved to attack the beast hurting Orel, though some were trying to find the figure lurking around us. I tried to handle both, using spells on the beast and looking around to find the figure before deciding it best to focus on one area where I could be the most helpful. 

    Dorn was the one to slay the beast, and I heard a few slashes of a blade coming from Lia’s direction, but when the battle was over, the figure had escaped. The beast was like nothing I had ever seen; it was enhanced with a magic I had only heard of rarely in Da’s stories; blood magic, a dark form of necromancy that most never talk or hear about. There was something wrong coming our way; I knew it. Once I made sure to help the injured, I decided to take my watch as I had initially planned. I knew the cloaked figure probably wouldn’t come back, and we would be safe, at least until the dawn comes.

The next day as we travelled, we were finally able to see Crossholm off of the horizon; and the hordes upon hordes of undead that the Count spoke of in the letter. There was very powerful magic being performed here, that I could easily tell. After a long, long while of discussion and debate, we decided to send Pimbul with a sending stone the party received before I arrived to talk to the guards at the gate so that we could find a way to enter the city. Dorn had the other so that he could be the one to talk to the guards once Pimbul arrived safely, which he did. Dorn began talking with a guard, who sent the stone to be replicated by a mage and given to the guard’s captain, Captain Suder. For a moment, Dorn began talking about bringing in help from Cladehin, but I was quite quick to make him shut his trap. I knew the Count would likely still be in the city, and I don’t think any of us were prepared to deal with the Countess finding out that her father’s death was a fake. When I gave him the dirtiest glare I could muster, he quickly caught onto my point and perished the thought of bringing Cladehin’s help.

We learned that there was an archmage that was the source of this undead, and they would send us on our way to kill him once our druid returned to us, which he promptly did once the guards released him. When we were all reunited, we headed in the direction of the archmage, following the path given to us by Suder. We went into the forest where we could see the undead clearly becoming more prominent. That must have meant we were growing closer to wherever the source was. We snuck past them to the best of our abilities, seeing more and more zombies, ghouls, and more things of that nature. We even heard the sickening laughs of some, and the marching of others. It was spine-chilling as we continued on. But eventually, we could continue on no longer, seeing the cave the Captain spoke of. Though it was blocked by a giant Bone Golem with a large bladed weapon. The entrance was blocked, leaving us to come up with a plan to get past it. Now that we all had some time to think, however, a memory of mine struck me. There was a place in that city.. A bard’s college. The Bard’s College that Torin spoke of to me when he told his stories. Perhaps there could be something waiting for me there..?

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Session Log Three - Old Memories, a Close Call, and a Drunken Night

After the eventful day of the Coronation of Gehala and sleeping in the finest bed I’ve ever slept in before in her Keep, we prepared to leave Cladehin after the party received a letter from the former ‘deceased’ Count, calling the party to help him in the city of Crossholm, about three or four days travel from here on Horseback. We had the funds from the loot we found earlier to buy two carriages and two horses to transport all of us. After I bought my horse, I waited at the Tavern for the rest of the party, putting on a little performance to occupy my time. I got a few coins out of it, so in the end that was worth it. What I least expected to happen today would happen when the whole party returned, except for Da-ah’Ziir. Where was he? I was confused for a moment until the door to the Tavern opened once more, only for my face to turn dark. Orel Starag stood in the entrance of the Tavern. During my travels on the run, I had very few encounters with anyone that led to things that ended up being as.. Well, sexual. I only ever gave in to that urge three or four times over a couple of years. Orel was the last one of those urges I had, only a few months before today. I was frozen in place. Why was he here, now, of all times or places? I never thought I would have to see him in all of his snarky glory again. Well, this was embarrassing.

I couldn’t exactly let the other members know, they barely knew me or anything about me, and this wouldn’t be a good piece of information to let loose quite yet. So I maintained my composure, staying as far away as possible, praying he wouldn’t notice my presence. As he approached the members of the party, he explained that he was here to replace Da-ah’Ziir, seeing as he had left with a couple of his colleagues to reestablish his dying religion. I understood why he left, I just wish it could have been anyone else to replace him. I tried to stay deadly silent as I attempted to sneak towards the door, only for him to call out my name in that damned accent. I tensed up before turning around and smiling, speaking to him with gritted teeth. I don’t know if I was angry or embarrassed to see him again. He was an attractive man, and I could never possibly forget the events of that night we had, but now I will have a constant reminder of it. Though I was surprised when he gave me some violin strings that came up missing from my pack. I thought I had dropped them or something of that caliber. I did my best to thank him, trying not to seem too snappy as I stuffed them in Da’s case and walked out of the Tavern to ready my horse to leave.

I rode on my horse to guide the carriage it had, and unfortunately for me, Orel rode on the other horse driving the other carriage to the side of me. Luckily, very few words were exchanged between us as we rode, but the silence was cut short after we travelled a few miles away from the town. We were ambushed by a large group of bandits and a bandit captain, who seemed to be a woman claiming that she had to claim revenge for her husband who was killed by our party. Not that I truly cared, because at the moment, I was being attacked along with Orel. We were the horsemen, after all. It was only tactical. I took quite a few blows, and the party members slowly left the carriages to fight back against the group. I was being hit over and over, one attack after the other. I was extremely hurt, and if I didn’t move, I would be knocked unconcious. I tried to escape the formation currently attacking me with success, at first. I was unlucky enough to lead the horse into another bunch of bandits who attacked me one last time before I fell unconscious and off of the horse.

When I regained consciousness, all I saw was Dorn, standing above me with a holy glow about his hands. He must have healed me enough to wake me. I quickly stood up and moved behind him, since I was still quite weak from the previous blows. As the fight continued, some bandits attempted to flee when their Captain gave them the command to do so. Dorn managed to catch one after someone put him to sleep magically, tying him up with some rope for interrogation later. The fight would still continue as long as the Captain was alive, I knew that for sure. But I was too afraid to leave anyone, scared of being hurt any more. But the Captain managed to escape and run away, and everyone in the party but me ran off to catch her. I was trying to calm down my horse when they ran, and they all managed to catch her. They were about to kill her, but before they could, everyone could hear the click of a newly loaded crossbow bolt.

“Let her go, or the Bard gets it.” When I heard those words, I knew that their weapons were aimed at me. I could barely stand up on my own, I could pass out at any moment. If their shots hit me, I was afraid I would die. I moved my shaking hands above my head, tears of pure and utter fear streaming down my face. I knew if anything wrong happened, it would be my end. I would fail at the one thing I swore to do. I thought of Da. I thought of what he would want me to do in a situation like this, but my thoughts were running too fast to comprehend my imagination’s words. All I could see was my father, smiling at me. He looked proud. I knew he would have been proud of me with the progress I’ve made as a Bard. I’m still growing.. I still have to grow. I have to make my legacy, as he made his before me. I still have to find him and hug him one last time. I can’t die. I won’t die. I could still feel tears running down my bloody and bruised cheek as I closed my eyes, praying for my life to whoever was listening to me. I heard a soft whisper coming from Orel’s direction, and I heard the click of the crossbows’ triggers. I let out a cry, feeling the end quickly approaching. But it never came.

The bolts missed me. I fell to my knees and sobbed weakly, not believing that I still had my life. I was beyond afraid. I know Orel meant to help me, but if those bolts hadn’t missed.. But the fight was over. The Captain was dead, and we still had the one bandit who hadn’t escaped. I was quickly healed once more by Dorn, though I was still afraid and disoriented. I owed Dorn my life for saving me not once, but twice now. I must find a way to repay him. After waking up the sleeping bandit, the other members of the party interrogated him. I wanted to kill him where he sat on the ground, but everyone else disagreed. I was angry. I was absolutely enraged. They could have killed me and no one seemed to care. Not that they could understand. At least my justice was partially served when we decided to take the last bandit back to Cladehin to turn him in. I did not ride on the horse on the trip back. I don’t think I will be able to ride the horse for a long time after this. But at least I knew I would have a safe place to rest for that night.

When we returned to Cladehin to turn in the bandit who was apparently named Gob and claim the reward on the Bandit Captain’s head, we went to the Countess Gedala’s Keep to rest. I was still more than upset at what had happened in the forest a few hours before. I still felt weak, though I was at least able to stop my body from trembling. I wanted justice so badly, but it seems like I wouldn't be receiving it. Once Gedala's clerics healed our wounds to the fullest, we dined in the hall, eating fine food. I had a horrible day, and I felt it was time I had a strong drink. I nearly stared the Raven Queen herself in the eye today. I deserved it. I asked one of Gedala's servants for the finest, strongest liquor they had, and they brought it to me. They called it Ankeg Ale, from what I remember. After just one sip alone, my vision was hazy and I began to cough and giggle drunkenly. Must've been some fine alcohol, with the lack of memories and the hellish aches in my head the next morning. The last thing I remember from that night was Esteem offering to help me to my room.. I hope I didn't do anything foolish. I need to remember to thank her later.

[sirfinniganiii]

Over the quarantine, I started playing Dungeons and Dragons with a group of my friends, and my boyfriend as the DM of our party. I play a Tiefling bard, and our DM wanted us to dress up as our characters for Halloween since that is coming up later this month.

This group and game has become one of my strongest passions. It's gotten me to read, write, draw, and sing again. It has helped me get through a lot of issues at home. This game with these friends means the world to me. So I wanted to put a little extra effort into this costume, which I just finished today. So now, I introduce with pride...

Rivari Céoli, the Tiefling Bard.

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Session Log Two - Another Member, another Fight (or two)

When we all woke up again, we saw that one of the Tieflings were gone. Krol had left a very badly written note, dismissing himself from the group. Nobody seemed too concerned or surprised at this. But as we prepared to leave to explore the next corridor, we heard rather loud, menacing footsteps. I was extremely nervous, quickly grabbing my lute just in case I should need it. The Violin wasn’t quite as accessible. After a moment, we saw a ginormous Goliath before us, pointing some sort of weapon at us, although I had no actual idea what it was. I could just sense it was dangerous, along with its wielder if we didn’t play our cards right. The Goliath introduced himself as Nalla, almost demanding to know our names and what our motive was for being here. Many of the members didn’t exactly react in a way that was seen as proper, so I had to take the initiative of being the talker. I had been observing the Goliath for a few moments now, and I noticed something quite peculiar. He seemed to have a Bag of Holding; that could be beyond useful to us, since we might end up carrying more than we expect if we find decent loot other than coin.

I talked to the Goliath about his magical bag, easing both him and the party into more of a negotiative conversation. Since things calmed down and were much more civil, we learned that Nalla was here for the same reason we were. He was hired by the blacksmith to find his sword as well. I managed to convince him to join us for the time being, promising him a share of the loot, payment, and the interesting encounters ahead of us. I was just glad we had another ally, making us a group of 8 once more after Krol’s sudden departure. After a peace was made, we all continued towards our only other direction to take. A few of the quieter members of the group moved ahead of the rest to peek ahead and give us information if we needed it. And shortly, Lia and Dyn approached the majority, mentioning that there seemed to be a small group of ‘dead’ goblins ahead in a sort of Mess Hall. Though according to them, they were still twitching. They were clearly undead or possessed in some way, only confirming my thoughts from the night before. This was a mage’s work. He or she must have been quite powerful to pull off something like this.. It needed to be taken care of. Quickly.

We decided on a formation of attack, the stronger being in the front and the weaker being in the back. This time, we were a bit more outnumbered. A few of us took some hits, including myself. I thought I caught myself in a bind, but as I suspected, I had the backup of the members at my side. After this battle was finished with our success, we saw three doors. Many of the party members seemed drawn to the first one, but I trusted my instinct and approached the one farthest away from the rest, placing my ear against the door. There was hardly any noise, but I knew that there was someone in there as I heard some soft footsteps. Pimbul, who had seemingly shapeshifted into a panther, joined me at my side and listened as well. We both agreed that this was the room that we needed to enter. At least I think so, he seemed to understand me because he nodded in agreement. I quietly called the party members over, explaining my case, and much to my surprise, they believed me. We quickly armed ourselves before bursting into the room.

When we entered, it was just as I had suspected. One man sat in his chair in the middle of the room. He turned to face us with a sly grin covering the bottom half of his face. He seemed to be the necromancer that we needed to take care of. And we quickly did so, after Pimbul pinned down the mage to allow us to attack as we needed. He at one point tried to touch me with a sparking, dark red magic attack. I was terrified; I had never seen any magic like that before, and if he had managed to reach me, I was unsure of what the results would have been. After a few moments, he was quickly weakened, and he attempted to surrender himself to us. I backed away from him, still slightly shaken from the peculiar magic I saw him perform. I let the others do the talking, and after a moment, a decision was quickly made. After the party made him release the magic shield blocking the doorway earlier, he was quickly and promptly executed by Da’ah-Ziir’s blade, slicing both his throat, and his.. Lower male organ. It took everything in me to not laugh; that is hardly something I would call a trophy, but from what I had heard, this was not the first time that they had done this sort of thing. Everyone seemed to snicker just a little at this move as they placed it in the bag that held the other two they had collected. I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t one of the funniest things I had seen.

After we collected some things from the study he had been staying in, we went towards the door that now had the magic shield removed. When we entered the room, we saw quite a few peculiar things scattered around the room. A few things caught my attention; there were two large suits of armor beside the door and two more beside a well decorated and armored corpse. Though a very well crafted sword that sat on an altar caught more of my attention, along with Da’ah-Ziir. We both approached it, but he made the move to take it, causing the suits of armor to animate. The two by the door blocked it with their swords, before the corpse lying between the other two suits of armor began to glow blue. He asked us to prove ourselves worthy of the sword and our escape through a trial by combat. At first this worried me, but I quickly realized that we could handle this quickly if we used our abilities correctly. And as I thought, the fight was over quickly with very little injuries. At that point, we took the time to look at the sword and find anything else that could be interesting.

The group found a rather large battle hammer, nothing any of us but maybe Dorn could wield; but no matter how much any of us tried, the hammer would not move. Someone with extraordinary strength would have to be the one to move it, but none of us possibly could yet. We would have to leave it here in hopes that when someone grew strong enough, they could eventually wield it. Until then, we had lots of other things to do, including going back to the town’s blacksmith shop to return his sword to him, as promised. We received our reward, and the promise made to me by Da’ah-Ziir was kept, seeing as I got a fair and equal share. He was a trustworthy man, as stoic and mysterious as he seemed to be. For now, he had my respect, as well as Dorn, Pimbul, and Esteem. I haven’t gotten much of a chance to talk to many of the others as of yet, but Lia has no ounce of respect from me. If she does not trust me, I will not trust her either. But now, I have decided to stay with this group. This may lead me to the biggest adventure of my life; and I don’t know if I am afraid of it or excited for it.

After claiming our reward, we decided to occupy Cladehin for a few days more; their Count was discovered recently deceased by the party members, but in secret they explained that the Count wanted to escape his life so they helped him fake his death. I was a bit surprised, seeing as I genuinely thought he had passed. The news spread for a few towns over, and I had managed to hear it before arriving. I did not agree with this decision, to be quite frank. Yes, the Count may have needed escape, but was it really fair to leave the burden of the town on his young daughter, Gedala? I kept my opinion to myself however, as we all attended the funeral on one day and Gedala’s coronation on the next. I took the opportunity to make a little extra coin, but I was able to see Da’ah-Ziir buying a small wooden sword and playing with a young child. It was an adorable scene. It definitely made me a little happier. But when Gedala stepped forward, she also had a few Priests from the church of Beata, the Goddess of Healing if I recall from Da’s teachings. The small group called for Dorn to step forward. Now I was curious. Was he a servant of Beata? My question was quickly answered as the crowd watched him take his Oath to his Goddess. It was enchanting to watch Beata’s divine energy touch the Dragonborn from the holy symbol around his neck. I knew the Gods existed, but I had never seen truly divine power such as this. I was quite impressed, and Dorn looked beyond proud as he stood in his armor, which had changed to gold before everyone’s eyes. The young pride in the Dragonborn’s bright blue eyes also made me quite happy. I was proud of him, despite barely knowing him. I knew he was good and kind-hearted with a bad race reputation, in the same boat as me. I know he and I will get along swell if we talk more; I hope we will.

[celestesdndwritingblog]

Session Log One - Rivari Ceoli's introduction to her party

It’s taken me a long time to get to Cladehin. A couple years worth of travelling ‘on the run’ has put me through a lot, being on my own now. Until now, I’ve been solely focused on my own survival, performing and making some coin with each village, town, and city that I visited. It was enough for me to get by, and even have some coin to spare for some things that I wanted. But I mostly kept it for emergencies or the occasional mead. But even then, those costs really only touched my silver coin. It was a way to live. Even now, I was performing in Cladehin’s Tavern, not expecting much of anything else to happen today. But it would be a bit different than what I thought. I knew something interesting was about to happen when a rather large group of 7 entered the Tavern; two Tieflings, a halfling, a wood elf, two humans, and a red Dragonborn. It isn’t every day I see such a.. Diverse group of people. Must’ve been adventurers. Many of them seemed to have some sort of magical powers, some more obvious than others. Especially one of the Tieflings, who seemed to be looking over me with a keen interest. I still sang for the rest of the song before hopping off of the stage for a moment to get a drink of my water that I had purchased earlier.

It was then that the Tiefling approached me; she was a dark blue skinned one with tall black horns. Very obviously an arcane user, but she had something to hide. Until proven otherwise, I suppose I could trust her. She was very introverted, that I could easily see. So soft-spoken until the Dragonborn came towards me as well. He was at least a foot taller than I was, towering over me with some slightly worn chain armor with some blue tinctures added on in some places in an attempt to give it that blueish shimmer. He was much more charismatic than the Tiefling woman was, asking me for my assistance in a small adventure to find the local blacksmith’s sword. I was confused by the sudden offer, don’t get me wrong, but I appreciated that this band of people could see some potential in me. I asked the Dragonborn what was in it for me; I don’t work for free. I know much better than that. In response to my question, however, one of the humans who seemed to have the look of a cleric about him, stepped forward and tossed me a small pouch of coin. I peeked inside to find a decently sized pile of gold. “And you’ll get more if you help us.” That sounded like a bargain to me. So I accepted, and went to pack up my setup on the stage. Although I was tuning out, I couldn’t help but hear the other human, a young woman that looked a couple years younger than me from what I could see, mutter something along the lines of “We shouldn’t go around trusting random strangers like her.” Deep down it offended me, but I still acted like I didn’t hear. I had to play nice until this ‘adventure’ was over.

As we walked to the place the blacksmith described, the members of the party introduced themselves to me. The Tieflings were Esteem (the blue skinned) and Krol (the red skinned). I did not exactly enjoy Krol’s presence; too flirtatious for my liking. The Halfling was named Pimbul Tealeaf. He seemed sweet, I think I’ll like him. The humans were named Da’ah-Ziir and Lia, the Wood Elf was named Dyn, and the Dragonborn was named Dorn, who also seemed to be quite sweet. Everyone was polite to me for the most part, but some left some first impressions that weren’t quite so pleasant. That will be up to them to make their amends on their own if I decide to stay with them.. Which isn’t exactly a bad idea. If these adventurers were successful, I could make a fairly steady income and I wouldn’t be alone in my travels anymore. I should probably think about that. Maybe this adventure with them would allow me to make up my mind.

We all walked to the side of a hill to find a door that I had never even noticed before, which was quite surprising to me. But we all entered to see a cave of sorts, though it was clearly man-made. There was a hallway before the first room, which was lit with a few torches, and all of us could either hear or see about three goblins, talking in both their native tongues and Verlean, about a large wooden chest. Perhaps there was some loot they were arguing over. I wasn’t particularly interested in starting a quarrel with them, and neither was anyone else. Luckily, these goblins couldn’t see us as we snuck past them. They never were keen to the eye. As we continued through the underground hallways, we saw a few directions we could go in. Well, I say a few; one of the doors was blocked by a strange blue force field. Very clearly magic. Dorn threw a pebble at the field, only for it to stay for a moment before falling to the ground. But when we looked in the direction of the back hallway, I saw iron bars that made up cells and cell doors. This used to be a prison, hence why everything looked man-made. That made some sense, I suppose. Although why it was abandoned, I would rather not know.

We all decided to enter the hallway with the cells, looking through only to find a dead end. But after a moment, Pimbul spoke softly, saying that there were goblins preparing to ambush from the shadows. Thank the Gods he saw, because at least we were prepared for their sudden attack. There were initially five hiding in the cells, but one of them cried out a sort of call, and the three goblins from the front room rushed in as well, armed and ready to fight. We were very nearly even in numbers, so I had no doubts that we would succeed. As the fight went on, I struck three final blows to the goblins attacking the others. But Da’ah-Ziir was the one who put himself at the most risk, allowing himself to get surrounded by quite a few of the attackers. He was knocked unconscious over and over again, but even still, he managed to lay the final blow to the last goblin while still prone on the ground. I was quite impressed. He clearly had skill in the art of sword fighting, which was rather admirable. But after that fight, we thought it to be the most safe to rest there, so we could take the time to regain some strength before continuing onwards. I took the time to sleep, after putting up my- Da’s violin to let the magic within it recharge as well. I also knew that this group seemed to watch each other’s backs quite well; I knew I needed that if I were to continue on my search. I think I’ll be staying with them for a little while.. For how long, however, I shall see later on. Although now that I’ve had some time to think, there was something peculiar about these Goblins we fought today. Their eyes.. Something was very off about them. Could it have been magic..? I don’t know..

[celestesdndwritingblog]

This is a detailed version of Rivari's backstory climax written in 3rd Person

Rivari glanced out of the window of her small home shared with her father, seeing the sky changing colors as the sun dipped below the horizon. “I have to go to the Tavern, Pa.” She said quietly, looking over to an older human man, sitting in a well crafted chair. The tiefling’s tail swayed behind her as she approached and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. She hated leaving him alone at night, especially now. “Stay safe, Rivari. And take my violin tonight. Spice it up a little. That old lute is losing its touch.” The human man chuckled softly, taking his pipe and a match to light it. “Do you trust me with it, Torin? It’s yours-” He quickly cut her off, raising a bare hand. 

“Yes, my daughter. Take it. It’s time I pass it onto you either way. That violin has powerful magic, and I have taught you how to use it. You’ve grown to be a fine bard, just as I have raised you to be. You’ve learned everything I have taught you to the point of perfection. I trust you more than anyone else with that violin. Take it, and please be safe. You know how on edge the people of this Godsforsaken town have been lately.” He sighed, lowering his hand. “Please be safe.” He repeated weakly. Rivari nodded in defeat, moving across the room once more to retrieve the violin case and some of Torin’s sheet music that he had managed to save from his Bardic College days. “I’ll still be taking my lute though, old man. Stay safe.” She gave her father one last wave along with her bright smile that lit up the room, before leaving outside the wooden front door. She kept her golden gaze focused on the cracked cobblestone road as she walked towards the tavern. As much as Torin told her to ignore the filthy looks and secretive whispers of her heritage and ancestry, they still bothered her. But even then, she still stood tall. But these whispers were different this time. All she could hear, repeating in the back of her mind, was “Witch”.

As of late, the townsfolk had been spreading rumors about Rivari and her father, accusing them of magic; and not the good kind, either. It hurt her, deep down, despite not wanting to admit it. She was naturally kind-hearted, despite her race and everyone else’s interpretation in this place. She never wanted to be evil, and it hurt when anyone thought she was. She wanted to spread happiness through her music and voice, not fear or darkness. She wanted nothing to do with truly evil magic. Once she entered the tavern, she felt both a wave of relief and fear. She felt comfortable here, until the drunken men decided to ignore her boundaries and touch her in places she didn’t find savory. But she felt safe, knowing she could be herself and perform her music without a second thought to bring in enough coin to get by. At least, that was the hope for her tonight. She hopped up on her usual perch after greeting the bar keep and getting her usual water so that her throat could be taken care of between performances, and began her work for the evening. She always sang and played passionately. This gift Torin gave to her brought her chances she thought she would never have. And she also knew that although he was getting weaker with age, he still had some spring to his step. Which was why she knew something was wrong when the Town’s Guard burst into the Tavern, armed and ready to fight.

“Where’s the Tiefling Witch?! She is to be put under arrest along with Torin Ceoli on the accusations of Black Magic and Witchcraft!” A Captain called out, making everyone go silent as Rivari did her best to move quickly towards the bar’s back door, running as fast as she possibly could, taking the violin, lute, and music with her. She was lucky she had her dagger on her, which she had wrapped up in her tail’s grip in case she should need it. But the guards were heavily armored, and she was much faster than they were. Now it was just about getting out of this town. She knew the back alleys like the back of her hand, that would be the easiest part of all this. But what about Torin, she thought to herself. She couldn’t just leave him behind, right? But he can still take care of himself, he had told her lots of stories very similar to this one from when he was a much younger man. He could probably handle himself. So she decided to leave, putting all of her faith and hope on her father’s escape. She moved through the alleys almost silently, eventually finding the opportunity to pack up the violin and music in its proper case once she knew no guards were on her trail, before making her way past the border of the city and running like the wind.

She stayed fairly close by for a few days, but she saw or heard nothing changing. Not a peep out of the city was heard other than the main trading square. It brought back painful memories of a life without Torin in it, when she was too young to remember much of anything else. She was scared now. Was he not able to escape? Was he going to be alright? She had no clue. But she knew what he would have wanted in this situation, whether she liked it or not. She had no choice but to pack up what little she had before moving to the next town, knowing that Gold Port’s isolation alone would keep her safe from these accusations that simply weren’t true. She almost forced herself to take those first steps alone, tears pooling up in her eyes as she plucked the strings of her lute as she began walking towards a new adventure; a new life.

“I know you’ll be out there somewhere.. I’ll find you again, Torin. I swear I will find you again.”

[celestesdndwritingblog]

This is the backstory of Rivari Ceoli, the Tiefling Bard

In Gold Port, things were always hard for someone like me. I am a Tiefling, who was orphaned as a child before I could remember who my parents were. I raised myself in a superstitious town where I was only seen as a Devil child, left to survive on my own without any guidance from someone who cared for me. I was left to find coin that some human dropped from their coin purse on accident to buy food or water so that I wouldn’t starve in the back alleys I stayed in during the night. When I was young, I was living simply to survive. I had to do some things that I didn’t agree with. It was the only thing I could do to stay alive, since the only person who wanted me alive was myself. The cycle continued on for years; I lost count of how many. But with each that passed, I lost more hope and will to keep going. No human or God wanted me, and that was all I really desired. To be wanted. And that desire would become a reality, when a famous Bard named Torin Ceoli came to Gold Port to stay.

He was a human man who always had a soft, kind smile on his face. He had short, almost curly greying brown hair, freckles littered across his skin, and brown eyes that lit up which each smile he gave to anyone who acknowledged him. He was a good person; even so young, I could see that very clearly. I wanted to be like him. Especially when he played his violin in the square. He brought in so many crowds, and he always seemed to make them happy no matter what. Even the grumpiest people smiled when he played his music. It made me happy too. It gave me the hope I was lacking to continue on. I would have to introduce myself to him when there weren’t any other people in the square; they always tended to force me to leave. When I saw my chance, I quickly ran towards him with a bright, pointy toothed grin spread across my face.

“I saw you play in the square, sir! Your music is quite wonderful- if I may say so, sir!” Torin sat on his knees to look me in the eyes, that kind smile still on his face as he looked over me. “Well, that is very sweet of you! Now, what is your name, little one?” He asked, clearly beginning to think to himself as I told him. Rivari. “Just Rivari?” I nodded. “Did you give that name to yourself?” I nodded again. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You don’t have a home, do you..?” I shook my head. “Any parents, little one?” I shook my head again. “That settles it then. You need a place to stay, and I will give it to you, on one condition.” I perked up, tears pooling in my eyes. “What is it, sir?” He grinned and ruffled the hair between my growing black horns. “You don’t call me sir. Well, maybe two conditions. Would you be willing to learn what I do on this instrument here?” He gestured to his violin. “Of course!!” “Then it’s settled! Come along, Rivari. Let’s get you a nice warm dinner in the oven.” He took my small hand into his own, leading me to his home where my life would change forever.

From that day on, I was both his student and his daughter, Rivari Ceoli. I had a name. I had a home. I had someone who wanted me. It was more than I could ask for. And I had it for nearly 8 years. I was 17 when I started working at Gold Port’s Tavern every night, finding a way to make coin on my own so I could eventually spread my wings and leave the nest Torin had made. He taught me many things; how to stand up for myself, how to play 4 instruments including his violin, how to fight in case I should ever need it, and most importantly, he taught me magic. Over many years of him teaching and me learning, he urged me more and more to go out on my own and learn from the world, not just him. But every time he mentioned it, I brushed it off to the side. I wasn’t ready to leave him yet. In my mind, he was my father. I didn’t want to leave the one family member I had just yet. But my family would be torn away from me just as quickly as I gained it all those years ago.

It took a few weeks for us to really notice the change in behavior of the townsfolk. The dirty glances I normally received only got worse, and I could hear the constant whispers of the humans nearby saying completely ridiculous things about my father and I. All I heard was “witch”, “witchcraft”, and “black magic”. I had nothing to do with that sort of thing, and neither did Da. But we pushed these rumors and whispers aside, hoping they would go away and never be thought about again. We both ignored it until it would be our demise. I went to the Tavern like I always did when the sun set. As I walked, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I carried the violin in my hand and my lute on my back. I heard nothing. I dismissed it for now, hoping it would be nothing more than some tradition I never noticed before. I started my work, only to be interrupted by the town’s guards who had a warrant for my arrest, for accusations of witchcraft and black magic. I escaped from the guards and the town that very night, unsure of what fate visited my father’s doorstep. All I could do was run as far away from here as I could, and I did. After that night I escaped, I swore to myself that I would find my father. So far, my adventure and goal have been unsuccessful. But I know things are about to change. I know it will get better, and I know I will find my father again. I have to keep my promise I made to him.